Archive for the ‘Porcelain Veneers’ Category

Will cavities keep me from getting porcelain veneers?

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

I want to improve my smile and have heard a lot about porcelain veneers. Do I need to have the cavities on my front teeth near the gum line fixed first?  Will veneers help my other dental problems?

-Sarah in Minneapolis

Sarah,
If you have cavities they should be taken care of before getting porcelain veneers.  Veneers can then be placed over those fillings.

Porcelain veneers can help with many dental problems. You need to address underlying issues of decay first. Then veneers can make crooked teeth seem straight, make your teeth whiter or longer, shorter or whatever you would like. 

Other links: Read about Lumineers.

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My veneers are still white, but my other teeth are not.

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

I have porcelain veneers on several of my front teeth. They are white and beautiful. I’ve had the veneers for a while and now my other teeth are no longer white and don’t look as nice as the veneers. Can I use Crest White Strips to bleach my teeth without hurting my veneers?                                           – Christy

Crest White Strips and their imitators are the only over the counter products that might work.  The strips hold the peroxide onto the teeth and because they are on for a while they allow the gel to penetrate the teeth. Most other kids of whiteners are not on your teeth long enough to make any difference.

There are some whiteners that can do damage to your teeth because in order to whiten your teeth they weaken the enamel and then bleach the tooth. The results from that kind of “bleaching” don’t last more than a few days and then teeth often look worse, because the enamel has been weakened and it absorbs more stains.

The Whitestrips might be difficult to use on your back teeth because they are made to be placed on the front teeth, where you have veneers. Because they are sold over-the-counter the peroxide is not very strong and the whitening goes very slowly. They can also be expensive.  You should consider having them professionally whitened by a dentist. He can target the teeth you need and the dentist uses a much more powerful kind of peroxide. You would probably be much happier with the results. Many dentists offer bleaching specials. Normally don’t price shop for dental work but bleaching is a very simple procedure.

The bleach won’t harm your porcelain veneers and they won’t change color.

Read about teeth whitening from Dr. Kaake at Miller Hill Dental.

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Is there any hope for a beautiful smile after radiation therapy?

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

I am a breast cancer survivor who before radiation therapy had a beautiful smile. Since that time my confidence is awful….I am so happy to be cancer free but I NEVER feel comfortable smiling anymore. It has changed my personality. My teeth are thin, weak and nearly transparent from the radiation.  As a mother of 6 with three in college, cost is an issue. I am also a  musical entertainer so I need to have a beautiful smile. I’m always aware that my smile is not what it used to be. I smile with a closed mouth and when I am singing, I try to hide behind the microphone. It’s really bad. I hope you can help me.  This would be life changing if it worked and was affordable.                                                       – Vivian in Florida

Vivian,
Yes, you can have your beautiful smile back. However, I worry that you will just price-shop for dentists and then have this done by the cheapest one, which is a recipe for disaster.
 
Not many dentists have the artistic ability to create a beautiful smile, and the ones that can are not  the cheapest ones. The continuing education required for training in cosmetic dentistry takes money, time, travel and resources. The dental laboratories that create beautiful porcelain veneers are expensive, and the materials they use are also expensive.
 
However, just because someone is expensive doesn’t mean they will do a great job. There is a range of costs of cosmetic dentistry, and some great cosmetic dentists are less expensive than others.  Duluth dentist  Dr. Gregory Kaake is a great example of this. He is able to offer the same high quality services as big city dentists, but his fees are considerably lower. He is the mynewsmile network recommended dentist in Duluth. The dentists on our mynewsmile network have been carefully screened and have all been able to produce photos of their beautiful work. To start your search, look at our list of Florida and surrounding-area cosmetic dentists. Give them a call  and ask over the phone if they are willing to tell you their fee per tooth for porcelain veneers. Once you know what costs you are looking at, save up your money until you have enough to get it done right the first time by one of these artistic cosmetic dentists. The price probably ranges from $1000 to $2500 per tooth. Please don’t try to have it be cheaper than that or you’ll end up having to spend more because you’ll want to re-do it as soon as it’s done. Good luck!

Related links: Read about Dr. Kaake’s pricing on porcelain veneers.

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Will Lumineers keep me from playing the clarinet?

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Will Lumineers or porcelain veneers get in the way of my playing the clarinet or saxophone?
- Toomer from Georgia

Toomer,
If Lumineers are placed the way they are often advertised, they could interfere with playing an instrument. Often they are just bonded onto the top of the tooth, making the tooth thicker and about 2 mm longer. This can interfere with speech or playing an instrument.

The way we usually do porcelain veneers, however, it wouldn’t affect playing an instrument. We usually shave a little (0.5 mm – about the thickness of a fingernail) from the front of the tooth before bonding the porcelain veneer on. This helps preserve the natural contours of the teeth and keeps them to a normal length. If there does need to be a change in the length of the teeth, we try the change with temporary veneers first to make sure that they don’t interfere with speech or playing an instrument, if that’s what you do.

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